Detroit Lions WR Jameson Williams ready for NFL debut Sunday vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Detroit Free Press

They considered giving it another week, but in the end, Jameson Williams looked too good to ignore.

Williams, the Detroit Lions rookie receiver, will make his NFL debut Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars after the Lions activated him from the nonfootball injury list Saturday.

Williams has not played since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee Jan. 10 in his final college game at Alabama.

He was cleared to practice last week, when the Lions held three days of walk-throughs before their Thanksgiving loss to the Buffalo Bills, took part in his first full practice Wednesday and handled “a pretty good load of” scout-team work Thursday.

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Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday it “would be a tall order” for both Williams and defensive end Romeo Okwara, who tore his Achilles tendon last October, to play against the Jaguars. Asked Friday if that still was the case, Campbell left the door open for Williams to play against the Jaguars.

“Every day it’s been better and the first day we gave him some (individual work), a little one-on-one work and then yesterday we worked him in the scout team reps,” Campbell said. “And so I know he looked better yesterday than he did the day before and I anticipate he’ll look a little better today. So he and Romeo both, they’re just getting their legs back under them, which it’s good work for them.”

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The Lions also activated Okwara from the physically unable to perform list Saturday, placed Julian Okwara on injured reserve with an elbow injury and elevated offensive lineman Ross Pierschbacher from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

“He’s shaking the rust off,” Lions receivers coach Antwaan Randle El said of Williams. “He’s been looking good, coming along. Caught the ball well this week for sure, so it’s been good. Good to see him get out and run and really just be live and rolling from that standpoint.”

Williams, one of the fastest receivers in college football last season, adds a vertical element to a Lions offense that’s struggled to generate big plays of late, though he’s expected to play limited snaps initially.

The Lions (4-7) have their top three receivers, Amon-Ra St. Brown, DJ Chark and Josh Reynolds, healthy for the first time since Week 3, and Randle El and Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said Williams still is in the process of finding his rhythm with quarterback Jared Goff.

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“It’s just a matter of reps, time on task,” Randle El said. “And that takes some time, so you want to make sure, whatever you do with him, the quarterback’s got to be on the same page with him.”

Goff gushed about Williams’ speed on Wednesday, comparing it to his former teammate with the Los Angeles Rams, Brandin Cooks. And Johnson said he’s had “a pretty good vision for how we’re going to usee” Williams dating back to spring “and that hasn’t changed, especially after what I saw (in practice).”

“So we’ll see,” Johnson said. “It’ll be a little trial and error, too. Is he Tyreek Hill or (Jaylen) Waddle from Miami? I don’t know if he’s quite like that. He’s unique. He’s unique. And so we’ll find out. We’ll find out what he’s capable of.”

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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